It's 'halo-halo' season!

Just a few days ago, the onset of summer 2014 was officially declared by the government weather bureau. But even if you hadn't heard it in the news, you knew it by the feel of the scorching heat at daytime. Indeed, it's that time of the year when Pinoys crave for the ultimate summer treat - "halo-halo". This cool dessert/snack is a medley of various sweetened ingredients, usually "saba" (cardava banana), chunks of sweet potato, beans and gelatin. A teaspoon or two of  sugar is added, and then shaved ice, and topped with sweetened langka (jackfruit) and a slice of leche flan. A generous amount of evaporated milk is then poured over everything. In many restaurants, a scoop of ice cream will crown your halo-halo, oftentimes in ube (purple yam) flavor. 
At summertime, stalls selling halo-halo are a familiar sight on the streets, both in  cities and in the countryside. They proliferate, seen in almost every corner.

Halo-halo is also part of many restaurants' menu. But perhaps, the greater testimony to the deliciousness of this uniquely Filipino dessert is having been praised by CNN travel host Anthony Bourdain. In the second episode of his show last year, he got to eat halo-halo from a Jollibee store in Los Angeles, California (makes me wonder why Jollibee doesn't serve halo-halo here in the Philippines) and described it as "oddly beautiful".

Anyway, as summer's here, I thought about compiling pictures of halo-halo that I've had in different restaurants, from way back before I started blogging up to last weekend, to share 
with you. And here they are:

Chuan Kee (Ongpin, Binondo))

Cafe Via Mare (Landmark, Trinoma)

Max's Restaurant (Scout Tuazon, Quezon City)

The Mochi Halo-Halo at Karate Kid is one of those unique kinds that I know of. Because it has mochi, you know at once that this is Japanese inspired. You gotta try it. Delish!

Mochi Halo-Halo at Karate Kid (SM San Lazaro)

Panciteria Lido (UN Ave., Manila)

The Halo-Halo Ice Cream at Aling Banang (a carinderia that has about a dozen branches around the metro)  is one of a kind too because it has no shaved ice, only ice cream on top of the usual halo-halo ingredients.

Aling Banang's Halo-Halo Ice Cream (Visayas Ave., Quezon City)

Manong's Bagnet Station (Tomas Morato, QC)

Mang Inasal (Tandang Sora, QC)

Halo-halo in my hometown in Quezon Province

Whew! Lots of sweet icy goodness there! Too bad I wasn't able to take a picture of the one I had from Little Quiapo (an iconic restaurant, being one of the Top 10 oldest in the country). Anyway, I've decided on the best halo-halo I've ever had. We'll, it's a no-brainer: Razon's! Never mind that it only has three 'halo' or ingredients - macapuno, sweetened saba and leche flan. Its flavor just outshines the others because of its uber creaminess. It has finely shaved ice, thus it's very smooth, almost like ice cream! Very yummy!

Razon's (Robinson's Magnolia, QC)

So, why don't you cool down with a nice and lovely glass of halo-halo today? Enjoy summer!

Caught in the crossfire

Of the food chain war, that is. These wars have been in our midst for quite some time - both perceived and palpable. Perhaps, it's the "war" (competition, of course, is the better word) between Jollibee and McDonald's that is the most obvious and perhaps the longest existing. And then, there's the rivalry between Dunkin Donuts and Mister Donut, Red Ribbon and Goldilocks and others. In very recent years, a new war of two food chains emerged -- between Mang Inasal and Chic-Boy -- with the bone of contention being barbecued chicken (plus pork, in the case of Chic-Boy). Mang Inasal started in Iloilo in 2003 and became wildly successful that by 2012, there had been almost 500 stores opened nationwide. It popularized (not started, take note) the "unlimited rice" concept, which probably catapulted it to the top spot in the list of the most popular restaurant chains in the Philippines, aside, of course, from its great-tasting Ilonggo-style chicken barbecue. Since Mang Inasal serves huge chicken portions, many people are not satisfied with just one cup of rice, thus unlimited rice appeals to a lot of consumers. Well, Filipinos are really a bunch of rice eaters, aren't we? Anyway, many people know, of course, that 70% of Mang Inasal was acquired by Jollibee Foods Corporation in 2010 for a whooping sum of P3 billion. 

On the other hand, Chic-Boy first opened its door to the public in 2010, but to date, it already has over 120 branches. I never realized there's been fierce competition between Mang Inasal and Chic-Boy until last year when I found myself reading a forum wherein fans of each of these two chains cast their vote as to which one served the best-tasting roasted chicken.To this day, however, though I've eaten at both Mang Inasal and Chic-Boy, I can't cast my vote because what I eat at Mang Inasal, I don't at Chic-Boy and vice versa, so there's no point of comparison. Though I'm figuratively caught in the crossfire, I don't know which camp to run to. I'm just quite happy that there are now more food chains offering food that is truly Filipino (at very affordable prices!) and that you can go to them when you get tired of hamburgers and pizza.

Recently, my youngest child and I were at Chic-Boy along Quezon Ave. in Quezon City and these were what we had:

Cebu Lechon Liempo, P125. Good!

Pork Barbecue, P45.

Spaghetti with iced tea, P57. My son says it's delicious.

Chic-Boy stands for Chicken at Baboy (pig or pork). Cute logo!

Ice cream, P30 per scoop.

Soup is complimentary.

Soy sauce, vinegar, barbecue oil (left-right).

The little boy just loves ice cream.

Meanwhile, my family and I have eaten at Mang Inasal on several occasions since 2010, the last being on New Year's Day 2013. On those times, these were some of what we've tried in their menu:

Pecho with rice, P99. Our all-time favorite!

Pancit Bihon, P49. Quite good, too!

Dinuguan at Puto, P49. I love this as well.

Pork Sisig, P99. I haven't tried this but my son loves it.

Halo-Halo, P49. The ice cream is forlorn-looking but this halo-halo is quite good.

Mang Inasal used to have Calamansi Juice on their menu but it has been scrapped.

Mang Inasal has a simpler logo.

Soy sauce, chicken oil and vinegar. I love Mang Inasal's chicken oil. I pour a lot of it on my rice. :-)

Inside Mang Inasal along Tandang Sora Ave. in Quezon City.

Mang Inasal and Chic-Boy: Which one's for you? Both have branches scattered all over 
Metro Manila and in some areas, they're right beside each other.:-) 

Yuletide eats

What added to your waistline during the holidays? With all the Christmas parties and New Year revelry we attended and did, I'm pretty sure everyone was stuffed and gluttonous. My family spent Christmas in our hometown in Quezon so I was fortunate to just lay back and wait for Mom to finish cooking before I get to taste what she prepared. Haha! My mother, who is now 84 years old, makes really mean morcon, I tell you. She does this special beef dish only once a year, served as "queen" of our Media Noche spread, which makes it much anticipated. For this year, however, Mom made morcon in time for Christmas because we wouldn't be welcoming the New Year with them in Quezon but in Manila. As always, it was very delicious, even better that those I've tasted in some restaurants. I have yet to learn making morcon from mother, though, and I hope to do that this year. Anyway, aside from morcon, Mom also fried some chicken marinated in soy sauce and calamansi, while my brother-in-law cooked kare-kare and pancit bijon. My two daughters, on the other hand, prepared carbonara which was perfect! I'm so proud of my kids. Their carbonara was heavenly even though it was their first time preparing this pasta dish! As for me, I did the eating. Haha!  

Mom's mouthwatering morcon.

Fried soy chicken somewhat burned on the surface. Haha! Still good, though.

Delicious kare-kare by bro-in-law.

Mom's yellow rice (rice mixed with corn).

My kids' carbonara. T'was the first time they cooked this but it was perfect!

My bro-in-law makes really mean pancit bijon.

To welcome the New Year back in Manila, I prepared spaghetti and tacos while my daughters made the desserts - refrigerator cake using broas (ladyfinger), and coffee jelly. We had barbecue too but I just bought it from Andok's. I was a little bit sad because I wanted to prepare a special Media Noche spread but failed to do so because I still had to report to work on December 31 and also January 1 and thus had little time to cook. And to top this, my househelp went on vacation to her boyfriend's place in Rizal on December 30th and returned only in the afternoon of January 1. Needless to say, she was of no use at the time I needed her most. Sigh...Oh well, better luck next New Year. Hehe!

My spaghetti.

Pork barbecue from Andok's.

Tacos.

My taco. Notice the large-cut cabbage strips. Hubby cut them. Hehe..

Garlic toast by my eldest daughter.

Refrigerator cake also by my eldest daughter.

My second child's coffee jelly.

For dinner on New Year's Day, my family plus two nephews ate at Mang Inasal. It wasn't a very good idea, though, because at a little past 8 p.m., they had no more soup, no chili (very important to me and my nephew JC) and no more dessert! Aaargh! But since I came from work and we had no more time to go the mall after hearing the 7-8 p.m. mass, we settled for Mang Inasal which is the only restaurant apart from Jollibee that is near our place. Still, it was a happy occasion for the family, especially since my two nephews, the sons of my sister who passed away on this date (January 2) 11 years ago, only get to stay with us for a few days during summer and Christmas.

At Mang Inasal, Pork Sisig.

Chicken Pecho.

Dinuguan at Puto.